Christopher Sheldrake: Turning People’s Memories into Fragrance, a Creator for Two Houses

“Someone likes a perfume I have made, closes their eyes and smiles. I think that is the real sign that a perfume is giving something.”

Christopher Sheldrake, interview with Basenotes, 2013

The dense, sometimes provocative fragrances of Serge Lutens. Alongside them, the poised elegance of Chanel. Christopher Sheldrake is a perfumer who spent many years creating for two houses with different aesthetic visions.

Born in India, he accumulated experience in Britain, France and Japan. He encountered perfume in Grasse, which he had visited intending to become an architect, and met Serge Lutens in Japan. This succession of chance encounters would lead to Féminité du Bois and Ambre Sultan.

English-language Wikipedia gives his date of birth as 11 April 1955. His birthplace is Madras, India, now Chennai.

A Life in Perfumery

Why an Aspiring Architect Stayed in Grasse

Sheldrake was born and raised in India to British parents. He later moved to Britain, studying mathematics, physics and art. His initial ambition was to become an architect.

Advice from his father changed that course: why not learn a European language before beginning architecture studies? He travelled to southern France to learn French and, in 1974, began a three-month work placement at the fragrance company Charabot in Grasse.

There he met perfumers who knew not only the smells of fragrant materials but also their origins and histories.

“I taught the perfumers a little English, and a retired perfumer taught me a little about perfume. After about three months, they said, ‘We think you have a nose. Why not stay?’ I stayed another three months, then six months, then two years, three years, and architecture became a thing of the past.”

Christopher Sheldrake, newspaper interview presented by Perfume Shrine, 2011

According to The Fragrance Foundation UK’s profile, the person who recognised his talent was Master Perfumer Georges Cœur. The young short-term trainee was hired as an apprentice perfumer.

At Charabot, his time also overlapped with François Demachy’s. Demachy is later identified as the person who recommended Sheldrake to Jacques Polge. Learning about places and materials, and meeting people: both were present at the beginning of his career.

Chanel, Quest and Then Yokohama

After Charabot and a period at Robertet in Britain, he moved to Chanel in Paris around 1980. He recalls his first period at Chanel, spent with Jacques Polge, as three wonderful years.

He then moved to Quest International to experience a broader market. His career profile gives a joining date of September 1983 and a tenure of 22 years and one month, ending in September 2005. An industry association biography, however, gives 1984 as his joining year, while an interview with Sheldrake describes about 23 years: there are slight differences between sources.

Quest was a fragrance company later integrated into Givaudan. There, Sheldrake began creating scents not only for perfume but also for a variety of everyday products.

A major turning point was Yokohama, where he spent about five years from 1987. He worked across a wide range of categories in the Japanese and South Korean markets, from luxury products to detergents. The technical constraints of each product laid the foundation for understanding how fragrant materials behave in actual formulas.

One assignment he recalls fondly is Unilever’s Lux Super Rich shampoo. He created a scent suggesting rose and fruit, and remembers it becoming one of Quest’s biggest-selling fragrances at the time. Even in areas beyond the works familiar to perfume lovers, his scents had entered people’s lives.

In Japan, he was also drawn to incense culture: not simply the smell of the materials, but the spiritual meaning of burning incense. That experience cannot be overlooked when considering his later creations.

Meeting Serge Lutens in Tokyo

In Tokyo in 1989, he met Serge Lutens, then Shiseido’s artistic director. Féminité du Bois, introduced in 1992, was a work in which Pierre Bourdon and Sheldrake gave perfume form to Lutens’ vision.

Accounts of the collaboration describe Bourdon devising the woody-fruity structure, which Sheldrake took over and developed with Lutens. Accounts of the creative process differ, however, and it cannot be treated as the work of just one of them.

The relationship with Lutens that continued from this creation cannot be fully explained simply in terms of commissioner and maker. Lutens himself says that, while he indicates directions and materials, the perfume itself stands at the centre of their collaboration.

“I know where I am going, and Christopher Sheldrake knows too. That is his job. The real partner, the thing at the centre, is the perfume.”

Serge Lutens, interview with Grain de musc, 2010

Lutens also says that he considered filming their work together but abandoned the idea because the presence of a camera made them perform for the film, losing the invisible connection between them. Perhaps not every detail emerges publicly not only because secrets must be kept, but also because exchanges that cannot fully be put into words are part of creation.

Sheldrake has been responsible for a large part of Lutens’ collection. He did not, however, make every fragrance alone. Iris Silver Mist is known as a creation by Maurice Roucel; some sources also mention the possibility of a collaboration with Sheldrake.

Returning to Chanel: Creating New Perfumes and Protecting Classics

In 2005, Sheldrake returned to Chanel. Before rejoining, he contacted his old acquaintance Jacques Polge, who reportedly replied that they should first have a drink, but that there was no job. Three months later, however, he was asked whether he could come back straight away.

For Sheldrake, Chanel was where he truly wanted to go. He became Perfumer and Director of Perfume Research and Development. His role extended beyond creating new fragrances to overseeing material selection, quality control, maintenance of existing works and production.

In 2013, Jacques’ son Olivier Polge joined. As the succession from father to son subsequently progressed, Sheldrake remained a support for research, development and creation.

It is interesting that he was permitted to continue creating for Lutens while at Chanel. According to Sheldrake, Chanel itself suggested that he could respond if Lutens asked for help. Having another creative setting also helped restore perspective when he had become too close to one assignment.

At Chanel, he considered the house’s abstraction, complexity and relationship with its times. At Lutens, he explored other sensations and memories. Not fixing himself to a single style contributed to the breadth of his work.

Fragrances That Begin with People and Atmosphere

Asked about his sources of inspiration, Sheldrake names people and the atmosphere of a setting. The people and places he encounters do not necessarily become products immediately. An idea expressing only a fleeting moment can also lead to another creation.

“Above all, people and atmosphere stimulate me the most. People and places can be inspirations, but they do not necessarily become products; sometimes they simply express a moment.”

Christopher Sheldrake, interview with Basenotes, 2013

He also says he likes the time spent facing a blank page, before anything has been decided. Before choosing which materials to use, he imagines the kind of fragrance he wants to make. After that, he also listens to the changes in the scent taking shape.

He does not, however, believe that immersing himself in creation is enough. Over a long career, he has learned both about expression and about reaching people.

“When creators first begin working, they tend to express themselves like Van Gogh, without thinking about commercial considerations at all. But it does not always sell. After working for a long time, you begin to understand how to succeed commercially, like Beyoncé. I think it is important to be somewhere in the middle and to be both at once.”

Christopher Sheldrake, interview with Basenotes, 2013

He also distinguishes between functional and emotional fragrance. Shampoo and deodorant support morning freshness and confidence, while the perfume chosen for an evening out or a holiday works on the feelings of that moment. Perhaps it is precisely because he knows both that the response described at the beginning, someone closing their eyes and smiling, matters so much.

Major Creations and Their Backgrounds

Féminité du Bois: Finding Femininity in Wood

Launched by Shiseido in 1992, Féminité du Bois is an important creation that placed the smell of wood at the centre of a women’s perfume. Behind it lay Lutens’ memory of cedar encountered in an alleyway on a visit to Marrakesh in 1968.

Lutens brought wood shavings home in a small box, thinking that one day he would make a perfume with this wood. Bourdon and Sheldrake realised that idea. Layering cedar with fruit, spices, flowers and the softness of resins, they created a contour that followed the skin rather than conveying only wood’s dryness.

A 2022 article interviewing Lutens describes cedar as accounting for 30% of the early composition and 60% of the newer formula at that time. These figures are that article’s account, however, and do not show that products from every period had the same formula.

Thierry Mugler’s Angel and Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey also appeared in 1992. This woody fragrance expanded that year’s possibilities for perfume in a direction other than sweetness or watery transparency. It was relaunched under the Serge Lutens brand in 2009.

Ambre Sultan: Amber Beginning with Forgotten Wax

Ambre Sultan, from 1993, begins with scented wax that Lutens found in a souk and left forgotten in a wooden box for a long time. Centred on labdanum, the fragrance combines dense resins with dry herbal facets recalling coriander and oregano.

It is not the merely soft, sweet amber that people commonly imagine. The bitterness of herbs and the viscosity of resins give depth to the vanilla sweetness emerging from within. It clearly reveals the work of turning Lutens’ memories into perfume through contrasts between materials.

Tubéreuse Criminelle: An Unsettling Entrance to a Beautiful Flower

Tubéreuse Criminelle dates from 1999. Rather than presenting only the impression of tuberose’s white flowers, it foregrounds provocative facets recalling camphor, mint and rubber.

Showing a flower’s beauty does not necessarily mean removing its sharp edges. On the contrary, emphasising the unsettling opening makes the floral richness that unfolds afterwards more striking. The coexistence of comfort and unease, often felt in Lutens and Sheldrake’s work, is memorable here.

Chergui and Douce Amère: Composing Heat, Sweetness and Bitterness

Chergui was launched in Paris in 2001 and distributed more widely in 2005. Its name refers to the hot, dry easterly wind that blows in Morocco.

Tobacco, honey, hay and amber are layered with impressions of iris, sandalwood and incense. Rather than simply expressing heat in a rough, forceful way, it brings dry and sweet elements, smoke and softness into coexistence.

A work Sheldrake names as difficult to complete, meanwhile, is Douce Amère from 2000. The inspiration was the bitterness and sweetness of absinthe poured onto a sugar cube. In his account, he sought to make the absinthe impression strong within the permitted limits of use. He names the sweet-inspired Rahat Loukoum as the creation he most enjoyed making.

Chanel Fragrances: Complexity Behind a Poised Exterior

In Les Exclusifs de Chanel, begun in 2007, 28 La Pausa, 31 rue Cambon, Bel Respiro and Coromandel are among the works known as collaborations with Jacques Polge. Sycomore from 2008 is another part of that work.

Sheldrake described 31 rue Cambon as a reinterpretation of chypre using iris generously. He aimed for an elegance like Gabrielle Chanel’s little black dress.

Discussing Chanel N°19 Poudré from 2011, he spoke strongly of the responsibility to protect an existing classic.

“This is a matter of pride as a perfumer. N°19 is an iconic perfume, and we protect it. This is not a marketing idea; it is a perfumer’s idea.”

Christopher Sheldrake, remarks published by Perfume Shrine, 2011

Coco Noir from 2012 is also a collaboration with Jacques Polge. It moves from grapefruit and bergamot towards floral facets recalling rose, jasmine, narcissus and rose geranium leaves. Patchouli, sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla and musk, among other materials, support its depth.

The black bottle may lead people to imagine a heavy fragrance, but Sheldrake describes it as soft, sensual and easy to wear. Speaking of Bleu de Chanel, he also says its originality lies not only in the initial freshness but in the dry woods and musk that appear on the skin. The idea of not judging a creation by its first impression recurs in his words.

Preserving Perfume as Culture

The Osmothèque and the Perfumer’s Profession

Beyond creating, Sheldrake is involved in preserving perfumes and supporting the standing of perfumers.

He is listed as vice-president of the Osmothèque, the perfume preservation institution based in Versailles. Founded in 1990 by Jean Kerléo and others, it has preserved the memory of perfumes, including discontinued works, in a form that can actually be smelled.

The Fragrance Foundation UK’s profile also confirms his roles as president of the Société des Amis de l’Osmothèque and founding member of the Société Internationale des Parfumeurs-Créateurs. He has also been involved in passing on Grasse’s perfume-related skills as cultural heritage.

Parfums d’Orient: Placing Fragrance Outside the Bottle

The Parfums d’Orient exhibition took place at the Institut du monde arabe in Paris from 26 September 2023 to 17 March 2024.

Sheldrake participated as a member of the scientific committee, creating scents with Givaudan’s Nisrine Bouazzaoui Grillié. Visitors followed the smells of everyday settings, not only gardens but also souks, hammams and tanneries.

“It was not enough simply to make perfumes. We also had to create texts and weave stories around the world of Eastern perfumery. My aim was to offer an authentic experience that paid tribute to the Arab world and its perfume culture.”

Christopher Sheldrake, interview with Les Carnets du Luxe, 2024

These were scents intended not to sell a particular product but to help visitors discover a culture. He valued the fact that the work stood apart from a brand. Discussing differences between Eastern and Western scent preferences and the spread of materials through travel, he situates perfume within history and geography.

In the interview, he calls this his first collaboration with a museum. He had, however, previously been involved in Chanel exhibitions, so it is better not to understand this as his first experience of exhibition work of any kind.

A New Chapter with Maison Spoturno

Accounts describe Sheldrake as having left Chanel in 2025, entering a new phase of his work. The month when his independent activity began and the month when he left Chanel are separate records and should not be collapsed into a single date.

An important assignment in this period is Maison Spoturno. It was established by Véronique Spoturno, great-granddaughter of François Coty, to create contemporary perfumes while carrying forward her family’s history.

Alphée, Barbicaja and L’Âme du Phénix were among the works introduced in 2025. It would not be accurate, however, to date the beginning of all this activity to 2025. A limited edition of Spoturno 1921 was presented in 2021 and subsequently led to a regular product range.

Barbicaja was inspired by a family-associated house on the seafront in Ajaccio, Corsica.

“When Véronique told me this family memory, I thought of a perfume of carefree happiness. The sea breeze carries orange blossom and jasmine with a fruity hint of apricot.”

Christopher Sheldrake, words published by the brand and presented by ÇaFleureBon, 2026

Someone tells a memory; he imagines the atmosphere and turns it into fragrance. This connects with work he has continued since meeting Lutens in Japan. Even after a long career, people and places still seem to remain the starting points of creation.

Incidentally…

In a 2013 interview, he named Chanel’s N°5 Eau Première, N°22 and Coco Noir among his favourite perfumes. He also said he had worn Guerlain’s Mitsouko himself and liked the accord of Cacharel’s Amor Amor.

In the same interview, the interviewer reportedly felt nervous about visiting Chanel’s smartly dressed headquarters in red boots and ripped jeans. Sheldrake noticed the T-shirt logo was Old Spice and remarked on its lovely carnation scent. This unassuming comment, moving from a perfume name to its materials, reportedly put everyone at ease.

Even someone who creates challenging works need not be difficult in dealings with people. His regard for the smiles of those who enjoy his work is apparent in this small scene as well.

Perfume Creations

The following list focuses on major works. Dates generally indicate the first appearance and may differ according to launch region or relaunch. “—” means that no co-perfumer is named in this list, not that there was no collaboration whatsoever.

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Santal Blanc from 2019, meanwhile, is a creation by Michel Almairac. It is not included in this list, to avoid confusion with the Serge Lutens fragrance of the same name.

References

• Basenotes, “An Interview with Christopher Sheldrake – Perfumer and Director of Research & Development at Chanel”, Grant Osborne, 2013
• The Fragrance Foundation UK, “Christopher Sheldrake”
• Perfume Shrine, “Chris Sheldrake: I taught a little bit of English to the perfumers…”, 2011
• Perfume Shrine, “Chanel No.19 Poudre: A Perfumer’s Pride Matter”, 2011
• Grain de musc, “Serge Lutens: The desire never left me”, 2010
• Grain de musc, “The Corruption of White Flowers (II): Tubéreuse Criminelle”
• Now Smell This, Christopher Sheldrake — biography and fragrances
• ALL-I-C, “Féminité du bois, thirty years on”, 2022
• Kafkaesque, “Serge Lutens Féminité du Bois”, 2014
• Kafkaesque, “Perfume Review: Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan”, 2013
• Les Carnets du Luxe, “Interview Christopher Sheldrake : l’art de la parfumerie orientale”, 2024
• Institut du monde arabe, “Parfums d’Orient”
• Spoturno, Christopher Sheldrake
• ÇaFleureBon, “Spoturno Barbicaja”, 2026
• ÇaFleureBon, “Spoturno L’Âme du Phénix and Spoturno 1921”, 2025
• ÇaFleureBon, Prix François Coty 2021 / Spoturno 1921 limited edition
• Persolaise, “A Family Mission — Live Interview With Veronique Spoturno & Christopher Sheldrake”, 2026
• Christopher Sheldrake, LinkedIn — career profile
• Wikipedia, Christopher Sheldrake
• Fragrantica, Santal Blanc — Van Cleef & Arpels
• Fragrantica, “What’s Hidden Inside Spoturno 1921?”, 2025
• Savoir-Faire liés au Parfum en Pays de Grasse, Christopher Sheldrake
• Société Française des Parfumeurs, Organismes de la profession